middle finger trouble.

if you flipped the bird and directed it at a cop, should you get arrested or ticketed? when does the right of expression get cut off? i mean- why can't we, as americans, walk around with our middle finger in the air? there were many cases in the US where people were arrested and ticketed for their middle finger being out and they all ended up very different. some were rewarded money in their favor and others weren't as lucky.

1977: A state appeals court in Connecticut overturns the conviction of a high school student who gave the finger to a state trooper from the back of his school bus. The officer had stopped behind the bus at a red light.
a teen on a school bus gets in trouble for flippin off a police officer? how much disorder could the highschooler be planning to pursue? that cop obviously wanted to fill his quota that month. what a country we live in.

1990: When a patrol helicopter hovers 800 feet over a home in Oceanside, California, the owner grabs a flashlight, aims it at the chopper and flips off the officers. Minutes later, a dozen officers converge on the home, hogtie him and arrest him and his wife. The prosecutor refuses to press charges against the couple, who later win $300,000 in damages.
now that's what the flip i like to hear. the police losing at their own game! why would the police in the helicopter go through all that trouble to arrest someone for the middle finger? and why would the wife get arrested? at least they got $300,000... and i bet they'd do it again.

THE BEST OUTCOME BY FAR:
1990: In the case of an Arizona man pulled over in 1987 for flipping off a cop, a federal court rules that "no matter how peculiar, abrasive, unruly or distasteful a person's conduct may be, it cannot justify a police stop unless it suggests that some specific crime has been, or is about to be, committed." It also ruled, "We cannot condone Duran's conduct; it was boorish, crass and, initially at least, unjustified. Our hard-working law enforcement officers surely deserve better treatment from members of the public. But disgraceful as Duran's behavior may have been, it was not illegal; criticism of the police is not a crime."
justice served.

1998: A jury awards a junkyard owner in Arkansas $4000 in damages against a state trooper who arrested him for flipping the bird as they passed on a county road. Earlier that year, the man's nephew had received a $2500 settlement after being arrested for flipping off a different cop.
let's all go to arkansas and flip off a cop, and get a couple thousands in a settlement!

MOST RESPECTABLE:
2001: Robert Coggin allegedly gives the finger to a slow driver on a San Antonio highway. The driver calls police, and Coggin spends $15,000 over the next two years to get the $250 fine reversed. An appeals court rules that the digitus impudicus ("impudent finger") is protected speech, especially if its target is not "violently aroused."
the fact that Coggin spent more money & time on getting justice served instead of simply paying the $250, shows that there are righteous people left in america. but it is understandable that not everyone has that kind of money to get their justice served, but it's cool that at least one of us does.

this is amazing to me that police really go through all this because of the middle finger. and how do they know that the middle finger's meaning hasn't been re-invented yet? every word means something different nowadays. and as with many of the cases listed above, since there wasn't a distinct message to pursue a violent act, then why should someone be arrested? in other countries like in UK, ireland, australia and new zealand when you put up the peace sign with your palm facing inward it means "fuck you/off" and here in america it means an absolutely different thing. so if i'm from the UK and i give a police officer the peace sign but i really mean "fuck off"- will i be okay? who establishes this stuff anyways?


what a mystery.